Seeing for a Smile
by Tadpoleinateacup
Summary: Ludiwg  germany  begins to lose his eye sight and all he wants is to see Feliciano's smile before he losses it completly. rated for war and mentions of gayness!


_**This is for Flavored_band_aids so she can stop bugging me about the fact that I don't write enough Hetalia Fan Fic. Sooo here we go enjoy!**_

_**And this will be edited later most likely after Flavored _band_aids reads it she is very picky and demanding! Lol! Loves to her always…. My Boyfriend without being a boy!**_

_**I don't own it some genius with toooooo much time on their hands does! **_

**Seeing for a Smile**

WWII was hard on many… a lot of good soldiers lost their lives for what they thought was right. Some lost valuable parts of themselves… arms, legs.

A man named Ludwig lost his sight. A bomb exploded near the trench he was stationed in and looked up at just the wrong time to get blasted in the face with debris from the bomb hitting the muddy earth. He had been slowly losing sight for weeks now. The doctors were waiting for him to lose it completely; they honestly didn't think there was much hope that he would ever get it back.

But… Ludwig had hope… he needed it. It honestly wasn't the fact that he was going to lose his sight that bothered him so much… people learned to live perfectly normal lives without sight. What bothered him most about the whole thing was the fact that there wasn't much hope that he would see his best friend again before he lost it completely.

All through the war the thing that had gotten him through seeing his comrade's fall was the thought that once he got out of there… once this war was done with, he would get to see his favorite Italian's smile again. Feliciano's smile had gotten him through his darkest moments during the months he had been down in the trenches and the thought that he would never be granted the small pleasure of seeing it made him ache.

He had sent word to Feliciano writing him a letter while he could still see the paper. He had explained what had happened and expressed his wish to see the Italian before it was too late… but he knew that wouldn't happen. The commander wouldn't simply let one of his troops go just to fulfill a friends wish to see him smile.

The only way he would see Feliciano again was if the boy got hurt himself and ended up being relived from duty because of it. And although at moments that was a tempting thing to want- with only a very minor injury of course- he knew he shouldn't even wish that.

He would spend hours arguing with himself in his head whether or not to wish Feli could get to him one way or another.

A nurse named Elizabetta had also not helped his erratic thoughts.

When he had written the letter he had given it to the kind nurse. She had politely asked who it was written for, just to make conversation. He was surprised how much he wanted to talk about his little friend. He had spent an hour reminiscing about all the silly things Feliciano had done, forcing Ludwig to go and save him. The nurse had laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"He's very lucky to have a lover such as you… you speak with so much passion about him." Her eyes had glistened with mirth for him and his stories.

But… the word 'lovers' stopped him dead in his thoughts. He had never said anything like that… how could she possibly have come to that conclusion? He said as much and she just shook her head and smirked.

"I'm sorry for assuming… but the way you talk about him… you speak as if the friendship you share holds more to it than what you actually think it does. I think you two are in love… but neither of you realizes it yet." He scoffed… that was utterly ridiculous. Feliciano was Catholic and even the thought of him being gay was blasphemous. And Ludwig himself followed strict social rules that did not allow things like that. There was just no way that even they had those feelings for each other would they ever follow through with them anyways. It was just something that wasn't done.

German's such as he arrested people like that. They were outcasts destined to a life of ridicule if they pursued it. The thought was horrifying.

"It's okay you know… if you are. I have no one to tell who would bother doing something about it. In times like theses there are more important things to worry about than who people choose to love." She smiled weakly at him and patted him on the shoulder before turning and leaving clutching the letter to her chest. He looked after through his clouded eyes.

He didn't know what to think. She had a point. In times like these people wouldn't worry about whether or not he choose to live with another man.

These thoughts plagued him for days as he considered his feelings for the matter. Above all other except maybe his brother… he wanted to see Feliciano. He was who popped into his head first each morning and who he thought of last as he fell into a troubled sleep. Even his days were spent mostly thinking about him. He would think about the conversation with the nurse… he would think about all the stories he had with the little runt.

He would think about his smile.

He realized that it really didn't matter whether or not he _loved_ Feliciano. The man wouldn't return his feeling anyways. What mattered to him really was that he _had_ to see the smile before his eye sight went completely.

At one point he wished for even just a snapshot. He just wanted that smile to be the last thing he ever saw. He could _die_ and be content knowing that was what he had seen with his last breath.

That was the thought that went through his head as he drifted off that night.

When he woke up the next day he knew that when he opened his eyes he wouldn't be able to see much of anything.

This was probably his last day with any eye sight and he wanted to cry in frustration. When…

He heard a gasp of happiness.

His eyes shot open and standing in the doorway was his nurse… and…

_Feliciano._ His Feli was standing there looking at him with shiny eyes that sparkled with happy tears. He was on crutches… a broken leg it looked like. Nothing serious but enough to get him put on leave.

"_Ludwig_. It came out a breathy statement." Feli hobbled over as quickly as his leg would allow and sat on the edge of the bed with a little hop. "I got your letter the day before I broke my leg! I was trying to think of a way to get to you if only for an hour. Then sure enough I go and break my ankle and get sent here to recover!" Right down the hall! It took a few days to get here. My leg makes me slow and awkward but I'm here now Ludwig!"

Feliciano's face spread practically in half with a large smile. Ludwig felt his heart clench almost painfully. He had gotten his wish. And there… right in front of him was exactly what he had been dreaming of seeing before it was too late. And the timing… it was destiny working its little wonders. The day before he was sure it would all be over Feli had shown up with that smile.

Before Ludwig even knew what he was doing he stared up into that face that was mostly teeth at the moment and reached up a hand. His fingers tangled in Feli's hair and pulled him down until their faces were barley and inch apart. He sighed as he realized what he was about to do. He didn't know what the Italian would do after this but he didn't know if that mattered.

He closed his eyes so that if he was rejected he knew that last thing he had seen was the smile. With that he pulled Feli all the way in and their lips met in a light caress of lips. It only took a moment before Feli was returning the kiss with a little hum of happiness coming from his throat. Ludwig couldn't help but return the sentiment.

They finally pulled apart when they heard an, "Awwwww!" coming from the nurse. "Didn't I tell you!" She placed a hand over her mouth as she tried to hold back a smile. "You two are so cute! I hope one day a man looks at me the way you two look at each other!" She shook her head and left leaving them alone smiling at each other.

"Ludwig you silly German." He didn't say anything more as he pulled Ludwig in for a kiss this time. He pulled back only enough to whisper against the blonds' lips. "This is what I had wished to do before I died." Ludwig smiled and nodded.

They kissed again before pulling back as they had the time before. "I guess this is what I really always wished for too… but that smile is a definite second. I'm so glad I got to see it before I lost my sight." He pulled back just a bit more to see it spread across Feli's features. Ludwig felt his heart leap in his chest and closed his eyes.

… … … … …

…Although when he next opened them he didn't see anything… it was never pure darkness. As if burned in his memory all he saw was thin lips curved around bright teeth turned up in a grin that could make anyone happy. And even though he would never get to see it for real again… that was enough… especially when the one who was responsible was kissing you and holding your hand… laughing. Ludwig smiled.

People lived perfectly normal lives every day without eyesight. He had gotten his wishes granted and knew he too could live happily even without seeing.


End file.
